(It’s hard to believe that in the photos on the left I still had 4 WEEKS TO GO until she was born!)

Compared to how I felt when P was 9 days old as opposed to 9 months old, well. It’s night and day.

Postpartum Recovery

Here are some of my thoughts and updates on my postpartum recovery:

I think during both recoveries I was pretty patient with myself as far as getting back into my routine goes. I gave myself grace after Liv’s birth (mostly because I was SO TIRED and the gym just sounded like too much energy), and after P’s birth, her reflux and my own medical problems did it for me. 😉 It forced me to be patient with myself, and just do what I could day by day. When I could finally work out again, I felt a huge surge in my happiness. I LOVE to move, and could finally do the things I’d been longing to do for so long. When you go through a time period where you really think you might not be able to jump, run, or actively play with your kids, and then suddenly YOU CAN AGAIN, it really changes things. It also makes you truly appreciate simple things you once took for granted. I had to stop the tears coming during my first OTF class back, not because the orange zone really is tough haha, but because at one point, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to go back to OTF.

My recovery, especially with the added bump from the surgery, has been slow yet steady.

Certain things have been really hard for me to get back into -with my hand, there’s still no way I could teach an entire BODYPUMP class right now- and in other ways, my muscles have started to pick up where they left off. It’s still challenging for me to run the entire time at OTF, but instead of feeling discouraged, I feel motivated to keep working towards it. I’ll get there eventually. At least I get in the orange zone way faster now? haha. This past weekend, for the first time since I’ve been back, I ran and sprinted the entire treadmill section. It. Felt. Awesome.

I joke that my stomach looks like an old man face, but instead of scowling he just looks unimpressed now. My belly had to stretch a LOT to make room for P, but I feel proud that it was her home and I was able to carry both of our girls, and birth two beautiful healthy babies. My stomach has never been my favorite part of my body, but it feels special to me because it’s done so much. It’s amazing to see how much it has changed over the past 9 months, which gives me hope that the skin will continue to firm up and smooth out a bit over time. I’ve been using the Mama Mio Get Waisted cream on it every night before bed.

Surgeries of the Past

I don’t talk about plastic surgery on the blog much (besides sharing my love for the show Botched) because I think it’s one of those things where “if it makes you happy, go for it.” I never really want to impact others’ decisions, and when I used to get a LOT of questions about it on the blog, I felt like it wasn’t something I wanted to dive into. Also, I didn’t want to be blamed for my breastfeeding struggles (which were hard on me, both times). This wasn’t something that affected my supply, but the tumor removal I had in college did when the doctors removed a part of the ductal system on my right side.

Now as I’ve gotten older, and know I did everything in my power to breastfeed because it was important to us, I just feel like it’s something you should own. I would feel SO much more comfortable if public figures were transparent about the work they’ve had done, instead of seeing them and wondering how their hips/body/face/etc defy the natural course of nature.

10 years ago, about a year after my benign tumor removal, I had breast augmentation. I was lopsided, had barely A-cups to begin with, and my self-confidence was affected. Having the tumor removed was a pretty scary ordeal, and I remember for my augmentation surgery, I felt PUMPED. I wasn’t scared because it felt like “the end” of the fear I’d dealt with the previous months. It was some of the best money I’ve ever spent, and I think I’ll have them redone sometime in the next year. (They recommend getting them redone every 10 years. I don’t really think I *need* it yet, but would prefer not to get to that point.) I’d like to take a break from surgeries for a second, though. 😉

The human body is an amazing thing. This past year was such a whirlwind of emotions (defeat, joy, exhilaration, sadness, fear, anxiety) and I’m glad I can look back and be thankful for the experiences and what they taught me, but look forward to all of the new adventures in the horizon. In the meantime, I’ll be loving these sweet babies, enjoying being back in the fitness game, and keep showing myself grace whenever I can along the way.

Great post and thanks, as always, for your honesty. People have such strong opinions about plastic surgery, but it’s a personal choice. If you want to do it and it makes you feel better, that should be all that matters.

Pregnancy truly gives me a whole knew love for my body that is not superficial. I look at my 4 month old in awe……like God made you in my belly, my body provided for you, and my body is still providing by caring and feeding you! I have tears just typing this! We as women are beautifully and wonderfully made! Do I love my skin is not as tight…no! I don’t really ‘care’ though….not at all! Keep loving yourself and I love the way you encourage others to do so!

Gina- I love this quote from you!!! Our kiddos are so close in age and I definitely am striving to do the same as you- “In the meantime, I’ll be loving these sweet babies, enjoying being back in the fitness game, and keep showing myself grace whenever I can along the way.” Thank you for the inspiration!!

1. I’d never even suspected you weren’t born with those tatas! Round of applause for your surgeon.
2. Thank you for always being so candid and honest. I think you’ve built such a large and longtime reader base because you make everyone feel like they’re having a conversation with a friend. It’s really rare, breakfast cookie dough cereal changed my morning game, and basically, you’re the cat’s pajamas.

haha thank you! he is an amazing surgeon 🙂
and thank you- i really appreciate that. i think of you all as friends, and it means the world to me when you feel like we’re just hanging out- because that’s how i feel <3
xoxo

Gina, as other readers have said, thank you for your honesty. Seriously. I so appreciate it. Sometimes I look at blogs and think “oh gosh, they have it all together and I’m a hot mess”. While I can try to remind myself that’s most likely not true, honest posts help (and I love it when you mention your glasses of wine – I’m right there with you hehe).

I loved this sentence “In some ways, I feel far away from where I’d like to go. In so many ways, I’m exactly where I need to be.” So honest. So real. I value you and your blog.

While I appreciate your honesty, this post made me a little sad. I also have barely A-cups, but I have learned to be okay and accepting of my body–even the “imperfections.” I think that’s what makes women real and authentic. It makes me sad when women feel like they need to go under the knife to achieve a look that society says is beautiful. Why can’t women collectively look at their bodies and say no matter the shape or the size that we are content in the skin we are in? I lost some respect for you when I read this post. You always appeared to be authentic and genuine and so comfortable in your own skin. In fact, my husband saw a picture of you once and said he knew you had a boob job. I told him absolutely not. You would never do something like that! It just seems like a selfish thing to do. What if we used the thousands of dollars spent on plastic surgery and donated it, etc. Seems like a much better use of money to me. There is do much more to life than the size of your breasts.

thank you for your feedback, meg. i have to disagree with you, but that’s the beauty of having our own thoughts and opinions. i had a scary tumor removal, and was lopsided. it made me feel confident again, and i was 100% happy with my decision. i don’t really see anything selfish about making choices for happiness, especially when you still do things to give to others when you can.

You are perpetuating the constant judgement on women you refer to by telling Gina to just accept her body and “not conform to society”. If anything, this post proves that Gina is authentic and genuine for actually speaking about something very private.

I totally agree with Meg. It makes me sad that you felt the need to conform to arbitrary standards and that ANYTHING external could boost your confidence. Confidence should all come from within and NEVER from outer approval or feedback–or it’s just not real. Our bodies are not to judge or be proud of. They just are.

I really hope girls like your daughters never feel the need to undergo potentially dangerous surgery to feel better about themselves!

if you were missing part of your arm -not a piece that would affect function but that you would notice and feel weird about- and there was a surgery to fix it, and you could afford it, i don’t think it’s really any different.
i’ll support my daughters in any way i can, and pray that they will be healthy and happy.

I think what Meg said is extremely unfair. Women can be “real and authentic” regardless of their appearance and the choices they make that affect their bodies. If the choices Gina or any woman (or man!) makes about her body makes her happier and more confident, I would argue that her happiness and strength would also have a positive affect on those around her. People are always so quick to say that money should go to philanthropy or charity, which is important, but we have to better ourselves as well. Having a positive body image and self esteem might even encourage some people to get more involved in outreach organizations. Would you judge someone for spending money on a gym membership or healthy food? Sometimes choices people make for their physical well being and happiness start on the inside and sometimes they don’t. Even if Gina’s choices were not based on a medical decision, it would still be okay and her choice!
I think shaming women for these types of choices is worse than “women feel[ing] like they need to go under the knife to achieve a look that society says is beautiful” as you put it. We need to support each other and be kinder.

Would you say the same thing to someone who elected to use a skin graft to attempt to hide scars from burns? You could argue that’s not *exactly* the same, but as far as saying that Gina did this because she felt she needed to “achieve a look that society says is beautiful”, you could say that about dyeing your hair, or wearing makeup or cute clothes, or doing ab exercises to try to achieve a firm looking belly. Gina said she did this and it boosted her self confidence and she feels great, has no regrets – isn’t that enough to support her and be happy for her? Anyone getting breast augmentation or reduction or any type of procedure isn’t trying to belittle others around them (you insinuated that Gina getting the breast augmentation is somehow a slap in the face to other A cuppers out there).

Hey Gina. You are beautiful and look great! I just wanted to ask if you had ever heard about breast implant illness. A close acquaintance of mind is actually getting hers removed after many issues after 10 plus years with hers. I would just suggest looking it up as I don’t think it’s something that is talked about much. Wishing you all the best!

hi leah,
yes, i have heard of this. knock on wood, i haven’t had any problems with mine. i think it’s definitely more rare. it’s something i talked to my doctor about, and he made me feel confident in my decision

I felt like I was going to cry reading this – thank you for your honesty. I am pregnant with my second right now. During my first pregnancy I was at OTF several days a week right up to the day I delivered. While I was very active, I still ended up gaining an unhealthy amount of weight that first pregnancy – I had horrible aversions and nausea and basically all I could choke down without gagging was 1. bread and 2. cheese. So that meant a lot of quesadillas and pizza – not the recipe for slow steady weight gain. I packed on 68 lbs and when I got pregnant with my second this summer, a full 2 years later, I was still hanging on to 10-15 of those lbs. This pregnancy has been frustrating when it comes to fitness. I’m now over 35 and while I always thought that was an arbitrary benchmark, this pregnancy is proving to be a whole different experience. First, it was hard to get and stay pregnant – I had two miscarriages and even now I am only 10 weeks along. Second, I have a lot more limitations when it comes to fitness. I can’t exercise without scary spotting and pain – first time around I was sprinting at OTF up until my delivery day. The inability to work out – the most i can do is walk, but even that gives me shooting leg pain – has taken a toll on my mental health as well as physical. It’s really hard to NOT beat myself up – I feel like HOW can this be a healthy pregnancy if my habits are (or at least feel) so unhealthy? I read your post and it helped me stop, take a breath and realize none of us get to chart our perfect pregnancy or plan out exactly how this goes. You are where you are (and you look great, really great) and are full of acceptance and grace. It may not be a perfect 9 months on, 9 months off for me – but that’s okay. It’s enough to do the best we can – thanks for the reminder that patience, grace and acceptance are SO important for expecting and new moms.

I really appreciate the honesty about the plastic surgery. It’s not anyone’s business, of course. I do appreciate that you put it out there seeing as you’re so open about other areas of your life on the blog. I’m a long time reader. I am curious about plastic surgery or ‘vanity’ procedures in general – I have horrible varicose veins after four pregnancies, but am scared to have them fixed because a family member did and had a pulmonary embolism as a result. Scary stuff.

Not everyone will agree with you, and I commend the honesty. I should add that I did PBB for only 3 months this year (after three pregnancies) and now, in the midst of my fourth pregnancy, I’m feeling much better physically than I did during prior pregnancies. Thank you for that.

I had very bad varicose veins – they couldn’t be fixed with just the injections – I had 2 large veins removed. It was not a bad process at all. I was just a little sore for a week and had to wear compression stockings.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE YOUR TRANSPARENCY.and this blog makes me RESPECT you more. I’m 41 with 3 teenage boys and I would LOVE to have a tummy tuck. My oldest was 9 pds 9 oz and 22 1/2 inches long. We can’t afford it right now, but in time. I love the line where u said ” showing some grace to yourself along the way.” Enjoying the journey! Thank you and kuddos for you- your beautiful inside and out! Totally random question- how do u keep your teeth so white. Do u bleach? I drink iced coffee thru a straw,see my dentist every 6 months, floss and brush but want a brighter smile. I had braces twice also (high five, I know u have too) now I’m having a nightguard made for clenching,ugh)

Re: breast augmentation, I really appreciate that you were honest about your motivations: You didn’t love the way you looked, you had the ability/opportunity to change it, so you did and it made you feel awesome. I am so baffled by people who try to jump through the weirdest hoops to “justify” plastic surgery, like a recent prominent blogger who kept insisting it was because she loved her body SO MUCH, and because she accepted it SO COMPLETELY, that she decided to get bigger boobs. This is so disingenuous to me, and I don’t see a reason to employ all these mental gymnastics to defend what is simply a personal choice about your body. Personally, I have barely A cups and think I look cool as hell, but I have no issue with anyone who would rather have larger breasts. If you want ’em and you can afford ’em, go get ’em, girl.

Best wishes to you and your beautiful girls! (Your daughters, I mean…not your breasts, HA.)

Thank you for owning this! I can imagine the judgement that comes along with putting yourself out there on a blog. Love reading this and while you don’t owe your readers anything, I appreciate that you chose to share this. I would love to have a tummy tuck now that I am three years out from having my youngest. I hate that people are so judgmental when it comes to plastic surgery and how many fell the need to keep it a secret. No matter how much we choose to love ourselves it is hard living everyday with something that makes you so uncomfortable.

I’m really really glad you finally opened up about this! It was fairly obvious to me (sorry, but true) that you had had them done, and it sort of always bugged me you weren’t transparent about it. :/ For the same reasons you say you are bothered by celebrities who don’t own up to it–pregnancy and breastfeeding affects a lot of women’s breast size/shape/placement, so I felt like it was setting unrealistic expectations for you to be like “this is my natural post baby bod!” when really, for a lot of women without augmentation, their boobs would have totally changed. So anyway. THANK YOU for coming clean and opening up!!! It helps the rest of us with imperfect mom boobs feel a little more realistic about our situation. 🙂

Your body, your decision. But it was very disingenuous to talk often about your breastfeeding struggles without ever once mentioning that a breast augmentation could be to blame, and instead focusing on the tumor removal.

If I may, breastfeeding it difficult for some people. I am a registered dietitian (fully educated on the benefits of breast feeding) and struggled so much I decided to stop at 2 weeks. I have not had any surgery on my breasts and am completely healthy. It actually helped me bond with, and get to know my baby more after I decided to stop. Im mentioning this because you cannot assume someone is struggling with breastfeeding because they had an augmentation (which is why she didn’t mention it before- many people would have made the same comment you just did). Also, she mentioned that her tumor removal did involve removing part of her duct system which could absolutely affect breast milk production and let down (which she did mention many times was with the one breast she had surgery on). Its hard enough to struggle but then add in the factor that many people will be blaming it on “this and that” is worse. I can understand why she may have waited to share that information with everyone. People are so judgmental about everything- its almost as if you have to explain your whole life away as to why you may have stopped breastfeeding.

thank you so much for chiming in, linds <3 breastfeeding is HARD for a lot of people, surgery or not. i think i may have had an easier time if i didn't have the tumor removed, but i'll never know and that's ok. you just do the best you can. <3
xoxo

I have to disagree with you, Liz. Gina is under no obligation to share any information with us. The augmentation was a part of the tumor removal scenario and obviously something she wasn’t comfortable sharing until now.

I appreciate your honesty!! People are so judgemental about very personal decisions like plastic surgery when they don’t know your specific situation. It makes me respect someone so much more when they can just be open and honest. <3

you rule. i had a breast reduction when i was 20 – my back didn’t hurt and they weren’t causing medical problems, but i was so unhappy and so uncomfortable in my own skin. my surgery changed my life! kudos to you for taking care of yourself in all of the ways you know how. keep on keeping on, gina.

You go mama!! Thank you so much for your honesty in this post! If anything, this post makes me respect and love your blog more for putting this out there. I know how hard that must have been, especially when people can be so quick to judge.
I was lopsided before having 2 babies, and now post-babies, they are terribly lopsided lol! (one’s a C and one’s an A)! I will definitely be having a breast augmentation in a few years. Not for anyone else, not for my husband, not because of social “pressure” to do so, but because I want to have same size breasts for ME. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that! 🙂 🙂 xo!

Love this post, though it makes me laugh because I remember when my son turned 9 months I was like yesss this is it , the weight will be off by now…(he’s now 12 months) wrong..lol..I’m still 5-7 lbs up but it’s like I just don’t have the time or care to worry about it! lol..chasing a toddler around is no joke so I can’t imagine having two ! Two of my friends had that surgery where they had to cut one of their ducts and it impacted their ability to breastfeed, but don’t ever blame yourself, you did what you had to do then and your babies now are fed and that’s all that’s important. I’m sorry you felt like you had to share about having your breasts done and that people might blame you..that’s crazy..you do you girl, before I had a baby I would laugh thinking ‘I’m okay with how I am’ now I look at those saggy flat pancakes and think..yaa these could use a little lift lol…like WHERE did that tissue go??? lol and I only pumped for 6 months ..lol You look awesome by the way baby in AND out.. 🙂

Thanks for sharing this! Maybe someday you can write a detailed post about the experience …though I understand if you don’t based on some negativity above. I’m dying to get mine done and have wondered about it for ten years !! I’m barely A too and I feel like it would be such a boost !! Thanks for sharing !!

I understand both sides of what I’m reading. I think women should feel beautiful regardless of their features. However, I also think that everyone should be confident and comfortable in their own bodies. If you felt like you needed to have your breasts done in order to have that confidence, who are we to say you shouldn’t have done it! Own it Gina! Props to you for telling the world! Love you!

Your body, your decision to do whatever you want! More power to you. I just felt a little uncomfortable reading this though because as a long time reader, hadn’t you outright denied just this very thing in the past? Just out of curiosity, what made you deny it then but talk about it now? Glad you feel comfortable enough to own it now though!

i didn’t deny it; i didn’t answer the question when it was asked because it made me uncomfortable at the time. (i got a lot of questions about it after liv was born, when people seemed to be unusually jumpy and attacking so i wasn’t going there haha)

Gina, I so appreciate the honesty in this post and so many of your others. As someone who is TTC, I often have concerns about how my body will change, etc (even though I want to have a child more than anything). Reading posts like this helps me to know that it’ll be okay.

I normally don’t comment on things where there is “controversy”, because its just not my nature, and I feel like we are all entitled to our opinions, but…

I feel like no matter how confident we are, everyone has something that they’d like to change about themselves. You did what was right for you and the fact that people would comment negatively on your choices just perpetuates women judging one another, which is so sad.

Also, as a nurse (with a M-I-L that is a nurse/lactation consultant), I know that many people with breast augmentation are able to breastfeed without difficulty, and so many women (breast augmentation or not) have issues with it. I know from reading that this was a struggle for you (I’m sure unrelated to breast augmentation) and I’m, once again, bothered by the judgement being passed 🙁

I love the honesty! Your being so real is what has made me a long time reader. Keep doing what you do!

thank you so much for chiming in, and for reading for so long. i really appreciate it. and you’re right. it’s weird to me that women care so much about the look, function and origin of other women’s breasts.

Aren’t you also “caring about the look of other women” though? You mentioned above that you wish public figures were more transparent about their looks. I’m not judging your choices but that statement about public figures seems hypocritical to me since you are a public figure in a way.

i don’t care at all what other women choose to do with their bodies. i just think transparency is cool, because you could know that someone with zero wrinkles actually had a facelift or frequent botox. then i feel like we’d all have a better idea of what’s realistic? i don’t like other women being judge-y about it.

I think some of us are also a little bummed that you used photos of yourself to *sell* both a post-partum fitness plan and a HIIT book without mentioning that you have an advantage in the ideal-figure department. Honesty in marketing materials? Not exactly.

i disagree. it’s not like a had lipsocuction or a tummy tuck. that would be dishonest. i had to work hard to get my fitness back, especially with 2 surgeries and after 2 kids. my boobs have been pretty much the same size for 10 years

Reading your blog is like sitting down for a chat with one of my friends. I feel like, especially on the family page, you’re so honest and lovely and I really respect that. It’s what makes you one of my favourite bloggers. I don’t think getting cosmetic surgery is anything to be ashamed of, to each their own!

Coming late to the party but want to say that as a long-time reader, I’ve always appreciated your breath-of-fresh-air personal writing style. You are so brave to share this, and bravo. How wonderful that we can each make our own decisions about our own bodies!

I remember reading a nosy (snarky) comment after you had Liv “accusing” you of having breast augmentation & thinking, “How rude; why does that commenter think that’s any of her business?” As you can tell, the VAST majority of your readers appreciate your openness & aren’t being judgmental. Focus on the majority. As far as the naysayers above, I just wanted to chime in that I had breast augmentation when I was 40 (6 yrs ago) because I’d always had AA’s & absolutely hated them & was very self-conscious about the way I looked (cute workout tops lose a little somethin’ when you look like a 12yo boy in them). My daughter was 10 at the time so I really struggled over the decision b/c I didn’t want to send her the message that we weren’t beautiful the way God created us, but I must say it was the best investment I’ve ever made! I only went up to a B b/c I didn’t want to get too cray (just wanted to feel like a woman), but if I ever do have to have them redone, I’d probably inch up to a C. (My doc mentioned the 10 yr. thing, too, but I’m thrilled to read some of the commenters mention that maybe that’s not a thing… another reason I appreciate the dialog here so much!) Oh, & in response to a few above… my choice had nothing to do w/ how “society” made me feel or “images imposed upon us”; I was always self-conscious & uncomfortable about my breasts, & now I feel amazing! I guess I don’t know what is so wrong w/ that. I struggled for months w/ the decision b/c of people like that who perpetuated the myth that only strippers had boob jobs, & you were a skank if you even considered it. Wouldn’t the world be a better place if women stopped judging each other & tried supporting instead? You do you, right?!

Also a long time reader and admittedly a very judgmental person. That being said, while I’m shocked by this revelation, I in no way lose respect for you! I think it’s great that you went ahead and did something that made you happy and that you are still happy with your decision.

Also, I feel ya about the old man face. God are things droopy around the bellybutton. I’m in the best shape right now I’ve probably ever been in but that area is just whoomp whoomp.

If you like the cream you’re using on your belly then I’ll be buying it too. My breasts are quite small but being pregnant has changed that! I already decided I want to get any tummy work I want post baby number 2 (inshallah). Here in Bangkok there are skin therapy places every block, so hopefully it’ll be easy!

Gina – I also thought it was fairly obvious that you had them done but it’s not my concern, whatever makes you happy 🙂 I get frequent botox and am not afraid to tell others who ask me one on one, but I do commend you for telling your entire audience about your augmentation! that takes guts! I’m sure you knew some would be judgey about it and still chose to talk about it. I’m completely of the same mindset as you – do whatever makes you happy, but let’s be honest about it with others so we don’t all have unfair expectations of one another! Cheers, Gina!

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About Me

Hi, gorgeous! I'm so glad you're here. Welcome to The Fitnessista, a healthy lifestyle blog emphasizing quick workouts, quick recipes and adventures as a wife and mom. Though I am a certified personal trainer, group fitness instructor and weight loss specialist, the information posted here is not intended to substitute the advice of a medical professional. Please check out the About page for more info. Thank you for reading! <3